Experts can't agree on how much red meat we should be eating. The confusion about how much red meat is safe to eat intensified last night as Britons were warned they should cut down to reduce the risk of cancer. Adults will be advised to eat no more than 500g a week – the equivalent of just three rashers of bacon a day.
The new guidelines drawn up by the Department of Health in UK will confuse millions of households over how much red meat is harmful. Only last week a British Nutrition Foundation study claimed that the majority of adults ate ‘healthy amounts’ of red meat and there was an ‘inconclusive’ link to cancer. But the latest research is expected to warn that although red meat is a valuable source of iron – an essential component of our diets – eating too much can lead to heart disease and cancer.
The guidelines, compiled by the Department of Health’s scientific advisory committee on nutrition, will recommend that adults eat no more than 70g day of red or processed meat a day. Over a week, this amounts to three sausages, one small steak, one quarter-pounder and three slices of lamb.
Research has shown that red meat significantly increases the risk of bowel cancer. It is the second most common form of cancer and affects 36,500 Britons every year. It has also been linked to heart disease because of its high saturated fat content, type 2 diabetes and other forms of cancer including breast, lung and prostate. Current guidelines recommend that Britons should eat 90g a day and need to consider cutting back only if they exceed 140g a day. But the 17 scientists who have drawn up the new research believe these limits are too lenient. Figures show that a third of adults eat more than 100g a day and the researchers fear they are putting themselves at unnecessary risk.
Processed meat can also push up the dangers and research last year showed that just two slices of bacon a day or one sausage can increase the risk of heart disease by half. But the guidelines will also warn that while some people consume too much red meat, those who eat very little may be at risk of iron deficiency.
Last week, a 77-page review by the British Nutrition Foundation claimed there was ‘no conclusive link’ between cardiovascular disease and red meat, which contains some fatty acids that may protect the heart.
The case against red meat
top GP MARTIN SCURR
It is wonderful to see the Government’s scientific advisory committee on nutrition finally coming out in support of the evidence linking cancer to eating red meat. For more than ten years, we in the medical profession have suspected that red meat is linked to colon cancer. But this has never been proven, because it is a difficult area to research. There are many variables which might affect cancer rates.
Leafy green vegetables, salad and fruit all protect against cancer. Could it be that it is not the eating of red meat that is the problem – but that those who eat more meat consume fewer of these protective foods? Whatever the case, it now seems clear that red meat consumption IS linked to higher cancer rates. Why is this? Well, we know that transit time through the human gut is predictable. If you eat a diet high in protein, with lots of red meat, food will pass through you in around 24 hours. Whereas if you eat a vegetarian diet, it will be around six hours.
This means that cancer-causing substances spend far more time sitting in a meat-eater’s gut than in a vegetarian’s. Furthermore, red meat is full of fat, which is bad for your health. We know that obesity is linked to lots of cancers.
Many of my patients are surprised to learn that even ‘healthy’ cuts of meat are very high in fat. A lean red meat fillet steak contains 25 per cent fat – as does the meat from a lamb chop, even when the fatty edges have been trimmed.
Widening the picture, it seems red meat also plays a role in the surge in cases of breast cancer. Thirty years ago, one in 12 British women suffered breast cancer – the figure is now one in eight. We think this correlates with the number of menstrual cycles – a woman who has never had babies is more likely to get breast cancer than a mother of six. Critically, it seems that young girls who eat a meat-heavy diet begin their periods earlier – leaving them at higher risk of breast cancer.
In Japan, girls start menstruating at 15 or 16 – as did British women in the 1940s. Now, girls in Britain generally start menstruating at ten or 11.
I tell my patients: If you want to live a long life, eat like a hunter-gatherer. Our ancestors evolved to eat lots of fruit and vegetables, fibre and unrefined sugars. We have moved a long way from that diet, and that is coming home to roost now.
